Gallery of Timeless Toys vintage museum opens in Drayton Valley

A newly opened gallery in Drayton Valley, Alta. is inviting people to take a walk down memory lane.

Sharing space with the Sugar Shack vintage candy store, you’ll find the Gallery of Timeless Toys.

The displays showcase toys from the 20th century. You’ll find vintage Barbies, Cabbage Patch Kids, GI Joes, classic Disney movies and video games — to name a few.

“Some of the toys, I remember having them as a kid,” owner Craig Leece said.

Leece and his wife have spent the past year collecting hundreds of items — many of which have been donated.

“It was kind of inspired by a tower of toys we had in the centre of the store here and we decided to take it one more step and try and preserve and bring back in a little bit of history,” Leece explained.

“Quite a bit of late night sitting on the couch, researching, and to different places, some antique stores, we’ve reached out to some people that have advertised stuff looking for donations.”

There are very few dedicated toy museums in Canada and this is the only one of its kind in Alberta.

“A lot of people come in and they enjoy it. It’s a lot of the older people bringing in their kids or the grandkids and that,” Leece said.

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The town hopes this recent addition becomes an attraction for visitors.

“I think it’s just really exciting to see the creativity, the dedication and the vision these two entrepreneurs had to bring this to our community,” said the town’s economic development officer, Marie-Lynn Starnes.

“I think it just brings a lot of tourism opportunities. Hopefully we can get some visitors in to check out the display.”

Leece hopes to keep growing the gallery and is looking to the community for support.

“As time goes on, we’re hoping to expand it and to make it into more than what it is now – so it’s just a start,” Leece said.

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